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Monday, August 18, 2008

Above My Pay Grade?

"We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't end at conception . . . It's the courage to raise a child." Barak Obama (Father's Day June 15,2008)

When lecturing men from the pulpit, Barack Obama recognized that conception makes a man a father with the responsibility to raise a child; but this weekend, he wasn't able to tell Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church that conception makes a baby and deserves protection. He didn't even have the moral courage to say that birth gives a "fetus" protection.

Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Obama: "Well I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity...uh....you know is...uh....above my pay grade."

What other decisions are "above Obama's pay grade?" We ought to know that too.

If he is uncertain about when a baby deserves Constitutional protection wouldn't he seek to err on the side of caution to ensure he doesn't violate the rights of a human being?

There are only three possible answers to this question, and each one poses a problem for Obama.a) Conceptionb) Some time after conception but before birthc) After birth

He can't answer "a" because that would mean a baby deserves Constituional protection from conception forward and he supports Roe -vs -Wade.

He can't answer "b" or "c" either because that would mean that the very minimum "birth" is the point at which a baby deserves Consitutional protection. Does a baby born alive deserve Consitutional protection? The answer seems pretty simple. But not for Obama, a Harvard Constitutional law graduate.

"the testimony during the committed indicated that one of the key concerns was -- is that there was a method of abortion, an induced abortion, where the fetus or child, as -- as some might describe it, is still temporarily alive outside the womb. And one of the concerens that came out in the testimony was the fact that they were not being properly cared for during that brief period of time that they were still living."

A "fetus or child" as some might describe it, is still temporarily alive outside the womb? Where's the lofty rhetoric speaking about the responsibility of the father and the courage to raise a child? Perhaps Obama believes a baby born alive is only 3/5 a person and therefore does not merit Constitutional protection. These babies, by Illinois law, are issued both a birth and death certificate.

This is a conundrum of his own making. Obama seemed oddly ill prepared for the abortion question that he had to know would come up.

This isn't even the election and Obama's disciples at the NY Times are declaring that McCain cheated. If Obama needs this kind of help just to get through a forum hosted by a church, perhaps President of the United States is above his pay grade.